One Heck Of A Busy Week!

Boy! Have I had a busy week; and a sad one too.  And it's not finished yet either.  However, today, I'm happy to say that I can get myself together and chill out for the day.  This isn't how the week started out.

At the beginning of this week, I was without a computer.  Yep, I was still waiting for a new hard drive to be delivered for my computer from HP.  I was upset by the passing of my dear, long-time friend, Cate Black, who had passed away from Adrenal Gland Cancer aged 54.  On Monday, I went to her funeral, which had been organised to the finest detail by herself and her family - right down to the smallest things - and I found it was the most lovely send-off I've been to.  I listened to quotes Cate found were wonderful and she lifted from great writers such at Douglas Adams and John Irving and then a tree was planted in her honour with her ashes buried underneath it.  The wake was a little more laid back, but still it was lovely to see her family get together and talk about her.  We found out that Cate wasn't treated well at the P.A Hospital and didn't stay long there, being transferred to the palitive ward of the QEII Hospital (where my Uncle Allan spent his last days; and is a fantastic facility).  She didn't last three days and passed on early on 6th, February.

On Tuesday, this week, I had the repair guy from HP drop around and fix my computer.  First, he turned it on and the hard drive played tricks on the keyboard.  He thought the keyboard was faulty, but I assured him that it hadn't been playing up, just the computer itself... and when he did finally get it to comply, he realised that I was right.  It was the computer hard drive that had deteriorated completely.  He said it happens, and it's unfortunate that I had to put up with it; but it's good that I'm a stickler for backing up onto an external hard drive.
Over the last few days, I've been working on getting my iPod back online (which it still isn't talking to my internet properly) and anything else I need to get done.  

Wednesday was shopping day... and what a day that turned out to be!  I had to drop in some film into K-Mart to get developed that I found in my fridge.  I don't know what's on it, so it'll be a surprise for me when I get it back.  I paid $10 off a layby at Woodys' and added $20 onto my bill-paying account; making it start next pay so it'll work out better for me.  I did my grocery shop at Coles and came out under budget by around $20 or so.  And I arrived home just on midday.  I was exhausted but happy that I was home.  I also scored well at Life Line too, getting myself a Dr Who mug from 2006, a new skirt and a nifty little handbag too... not bad.

Yesterday, I was out and about at the doctors over at Springwood.  In the morning, I went to my GP to renew some of prescriptions and chat to her about the pill and that we need to look into working on another way to regulate my cycle which doesn't include the pill - which, if you all remember, caused a stroke last year; something I don't wish to repeat.
Then, in the afternoon, I was off to the chiropracters.  I was a week overdue, but she said my back wasn't so bad seeing I was away from the computer for a week.  So, that's a good thing isn't it?

Today?  Well, I'm here at home being lazy.  I went out this morning to buy my fruit and veggies at The Big Apple, photographed a gorgeous Water Dragon and then arrived home just before the rain arrived.  Then, in the last hour or so, I installed Skype onto my computer and it didn't freeze up or have any kind of weird problems with it... so I'm having a good day for once.  So, how was your week?  Good, bad or ugly.  Or has it been a mixed bag like mine, where a bit of everything - good and bad - has happened?  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm/cool and remember, I'm always here.        

Shopping Day

Today was one of my many shopping days; it was also a day to get myself organised for the next few years.  So, I left the house with my iPod in hand - which has a shopping list app on it - and my trolley and umbrella at the ready.  I was hoping to get myself a good few hours of shopping, organising and banking done this morning.

My first usual stop at Life Line was lucrative and I found a nice little bag, a lovely denim skirt and a really cool Dr Who mug from 2006.  How cool is that?  Well, I went to Woolworths, bought my Witackers and then headed off to Logan Central Plaza where my main bit of shopping was going to happen.
The first stop was Suncorp.  I had to increase the amount of money going out to my bill-paying account next pay.  This was easily done; and I'm glad I remembered to do it as I have finally figured out that I can afford a little more this year.  Then, I stopped off at Woodys' and began putting money onto my next layby of 'Angel' boxset.  This show is a spin-off of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' (which I've got the series of from Gabe as he burnt me the whole lot years ago).  Steven was all excited about the set and went out the back and showed it to me!  It's come in a Collector's Edition dark blue tin!  Wow!  How cool is that?  He said he's never seen anything like it!  I said that Gabe bought the set for his last girlfriend, but it came in a cardboard box - like Supernatural - but this is going to be very cool!
After Woodys' I was off to K-Mart to put in two rolls of film I found in the door of my fridge.  I don't know what's on them... but I'm sure to find out in a couple of weeks' time. 

I then sat down on a seat to sort myself out and cross off a few items from the shopping list on my iPod.  An elderly gentleman was next to me and I showed him how it worked and he was amazed at it; asking if my husband enjoyed the technology as well, or my kids.  I smiled and said I'd never been married or had children.  He was amazed that nobody had snaffled me up (his words not mine), a pretty young thing like me (again his words not mine).  I said that a lot of guys I've met have always treated me as though they were out to turn me into their Mum or try to keep me from having a social life, a personality or my own interests unless it was to serve them.  His eyes widened and he wondered where I met these guys and what they were thinking.  I shrugged and said that I'd love to meet somebody and fall in love, but to be turned into a Stepford Wife just isn't worth it.  He looked around and we saw his wife walking toward him, he said that he'd never do something like that to his wife and she smiled asking if he had finished his things before her, then said good morning to me.  They were just a lovely couple.

The rest of my shopping day was good.  I found everything I needed in Coles and decided to give the self-serving computers a miss this time around (as they frustrate me to no end).  And when I got outside, I found 3 cabs lined up ready to be called on.  
Yep, today turned out to be a lovely day.  I still have my fruit and veggie shopping to do tomorrow as well as a doctor's appointment to go to and the chiropractors as well.  But that's another post for another day.  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm/cool and remember, I'm always here.     

Long Time Between Posts

I've had a busy week.  But mainly, I've missed having my computer at my beck and call in my house.  I'm so used to it being there in the spare room, in amongst the bookcases, nestled there in the corner that when it stopped working last Monday, I was really pissed off to say the least.  

More. 

I was wondering exactly how I was to do my writing - forget getting onto the internet.  All my books are now on thumb drives; and so to access them, I need a computer.  So, I turned off my broken computer and looked around my house.  I ended up outside looking at my garden and making  big plans on what needs to be done.

By around Wednesday, I was at my parents' house - much like I am now - using their internet waiting out the day and checking my mail.  One of my friends and I organised to have lunch via Facebook and after I found out one of my dear friends had passed away from Adrenal Gland Cancer.  I was really upset and found I was being kept in the dark about where the service was held and now, just today, I have found the family had changed venus again on where the wake is going to be held.  It's really getting up everyone's nose as we have to figure out how to get to the service and then have to wait to be told where it's going to go from there.  Silly really.
On Thursday, Dad and I went out to Bunnings where I bought a nice new round pot to bury my little bird in.  Yes, I still had her in the freezer awaiting her own funeral service.  I also bought up 3 bags of potting mix - the good stuff - and on Friday, I got my parents over to my place and we had a nice little service for my Little Miss Stevie.  She was such a big part of my life; and I'm happy I buried her in that way.  She just enjoyed the back yard so much (well, okay, so long the other birds didn't pick on her all the time).  It was a nice quiet little ceremony and Mum thought it was quite apt to put her in the pot under a Small-Leaf Jade; and so did I.
On Friday, I was out for lunch with Ged Maybury.  Ged is a writer of Steampunk but he used to write Young Adult.  I've known him for around 15 years and we became friends over Facebook when I mentioned that we met a long time ago.  Well!  We got along like a house on fire!  We had good laughs, great food at Rocky's Bakehouse & Cafe and totally enjoyed ourselves chatting about writing, authors and how some literary agents can be right horrors!  Then, he and I strolled back to my place and he pored over my collection of books!  He adored them totally, saying they were just wonderful - and there were quite a few books he hadn't seen before.  
Yesterday, I did some laundry and just typical housework.  However, over the week, I did get to put some wood polish into the piano ... and does it look gorgeous or what!  The colour has just bloomed from the grain!  And I love how it seems to have a better glow than it did before.  I'll be putting another coat on next week or so and see what happens.

So, this is what I've been doing without a computer.  Other than that, I've been painting clothes pegs, watching my 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' dvd set and trying to get my tv fixed as well as reading 'The God Delusion' by Richard Dawkins.  It's amazing what happens to you when you're forced to live without a computer ... and I hate it.  I hope it's fixed soon!  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm/cool and remember, I'm always here.      

Mid-Week

I've had such a strange week.  First off, my computer started acting up really badly; then on Monday it stopped working completely.  So, after an hour of being on the phone with a HP tech guy, and working well with him, we both found out that the computer's hard drive was a lost cause.  And the cause?  Well... do you remember when I uploaded Skype?  Yes, well, after removing that, my computer kept on locking up and stuffing around on me.  I thought it was just something - a glitch - that was wrong with it.  However I was wrong.  The computer was slowing down on me; little by little.  And on Monday, it just stopped working.  So, the tech guy at HP and I took the hard drive back to a preset date but it didn't work; and then my computer wouldn't start up again.  So, I'm in for a new hard drive.  This brings me to today... waiting for my ordered piece to come in and a HP technician to show up and put it in.  However, that will be in the next few days.

Yesterday, I was visited by my wonderful friend, Vivienne Treagus.  She and her husband had gorgeous little baby girl on December 5th, and yesterday was the first day I had seen her; and she turned 2 months old.  Little Zoe has grown so much and is just so lovely and cute.  She had the long legs of her Dad and her Mum's hair; and she loved being cuddled too.  And she was so lovely and cute when she was sleeping as well.  Vivienne and I chatted over coffee and 'Griffins' Gingernut Biscuits and we enjoyed playing some Mozart too.  By the end of her visit, we had swapped over some Yoga books and I had lent her some cds of Mozart so she could put them onto her iPod for little Zoe.

Today, I was out and about at Mum and Dad's place.  However, I wanted to spend time with my Dad - as it was his birthday yesterday; and I missed out hanging out with him.  Anyway, I thought to come here today and be here with them.
But it's turned out that they've had to help me instead; as I received some really horrible news today.  One of my old friends passed away last night, and I didn't know until I looked on Facebook.  This wonderful friend of mine is Catherine Black who had been in hospital for about a week now, and was looking forward to being at home with her cat; to organise moving into hospice care.  However that wasn't meant to be.  I've known her for around 15 years as I met her at the Logan Writers' Guild and we have been friends for a long time - even outside it.  

Seeing my week so far has had its ups and downs in the biggest ways, I don't wish to see too much more to go wrong this week.  So, how has your week been?  Better than mine, or worse?  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm/cool and remember, I'm always here.